


Michael Jones Vs Evil

by MelodramaticMrTails



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Animal Death, Blood and Gore, F/F, M/M, Major Character Injury, Mild Sexual Content, Survival Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-07-30
Packaged: 2018-07-27 14:43:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7622650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MelodramaticMrTails/pseuds/MelodramaticMrTails
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Michael and his friends are spending their break from college in Lindsay’s family cabin. Which would be nice if there was a creep living in the cabin across the lake. Can he prevent all his friends from meeting a terrible fate? Probably not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Michael Jones Vs Evil

It's a long way out to Lindsay's family cabin. In this case, that's a good thing. The old thing is sat on a lake with enough room for the six of them to have themselves a hell of a week of relaxing and partying. The place is so isolated, they can be as loud as they want without the worry of bothering anyone or more importantly, getting the cops called on them. Which also makes it a great place to get so fucking stoned.

The only people nearby is some couple that run a little supply shop two miles out and the occasional hunter that wanders through the area; no one who's going to bother them much. To be honest, Michael’s just looking forward to spending some time with his boyfriend out here. The last few weeks of college have been hectic and none of them have really had the time too see each other let alone hang out.

This week is a well earned seven days of rest, relaxation, and probably enough sex to make a porn star jealous.

“It smells like dirt out here,” Ray complains again, leaned against the backseat window with his face in his game.

“Shut up Ray,” Michael scoffs back. “It's a fucking forest, what did you expect it to smell like?” Ray kicks his feet into the back of Michael’s seat, shaking it a little but not bothering him much. Gavin laughs.

“Oh, come on Ray. It's nice out here, innit?” he insists, perched in his boyfriend's lap happily. He wraps his arms around Jeremy’s neck fondly, rubbing their faces together in a way that makes everyone else roll their eyes.

“Whatever,” Ray murmurs back. He's not, by any stretch of the word, an outdoors person. Of course, Lindsay promised there's electricity in the cabin, old as it is, and possibly even some wifi. As long as Ray's got a place to plug his Xbox in, he'll be a happy camper. Michael’s not exactly planning on giving him much time to play it, though.

“You don't like campfires and s’mores, Ray?” Mica insists, nudging him with her elbow a bit.

“Yeah, I can do both those things at home. You know what else I like? Not being murdered in a forest by wild animals,” he assures.

“Stop it,” Lindsay laughs. “It's not like you're going to be spending much time outside anyways.”

“True,” Ray agrees without hesitation. Michael rolls his eyes fondly. As he pulls up at the last stop before the cabin, everyone gladly hops out to stretch their legs- save Ray. The little supply shop is the only place even remotely nearby for them to get anything they haven't already brought with them. Fortunately they've already packed enough food and clothes to last them a week of munchies and drinking. Or at any rate, it's not that long of a drive back up here.

Michael heads inside to grab the beer, the last thing on their long list of things, while the others happily loiter around the car. They already have their liquor packed in the back but they didn't want to drive all this way with heavy, warm beer. When he enters the shop, he can hear a pair of people arguing in the back but he can’t quite make out what they're saying. It's not really any of his business anyways, however, so he simply heads to the back of the store to grab two cases of canned beer.

When he heads to the front to pay, he bumps into a particularly large guy. Michael jumps a little, having not seen him when he entered, and the stranger stares down at him. He's not exactly pleasant looking, that's for sure. He's covered in scars and Michael’s pretty sure that's just a straight up hook in his shoulder. Christ. Michael isn’t one to back away from a fight but despite what people may think, he's not an idiot. He backs up, moving away from the creepy stranger, and the stranger adjusts his hold on the chainsaw he drags behind him before leaving the shop.

“Excuse me, too,” Michael murmurs under his breath. He watches the stranger from the window, his skin crawling in such an unsettled way. That guy's a hunter?

“Oh, don’t mind him,” the owner says suddenly. Michael glances at her a little then back to the stranger setting his chainsaw into the back of his truck. “He's just a local. Harmless.”

“Uh huh,” Michael replies, not believing her in the slightest. He sets his beer on the counter.

“You must be with the Tuggeys,” she grins at him in a friendly way. “I'm Jack. If there's anything you guys need, just let me know and I can get it out here, alright?”

“Yeah, thanks,” Michael says. That's good to know he supposes. “There, like, police out here or something?”

“Only my husband,” Jack murmurs curiously, gesturing towards the back where she'd been arguing just moments ago. “Not much out here to need police for. He can help y’all if you need it, though.”

“Cool,” he nods agreeably. That's even better to know. He pays for the beer and carries it back out to the car where his friends all seem to have gone mysteriously quiet. They murmur among themselves and Michael notes the creepy, ‘harmless’ stranger staring at them from his truck. He tosses the beer in the back and his friends hurriedly pile back into the car. As he's getting into the driver's seat again, the stranger starts approaching them.

“Michael,” Gavin says urgently. “Let's go, please. That guy is creepin’ me out.”

“No kidding,” Mica murmurs in agreement.

“Don’t worry guys,” Michael replies even as he makes haste in starting the car again. “The store owner says he's ‘harmless’.”

“Yeah, and I'm six foot,” Jeremy scoffs. “Just cause I said it doesn’t make it true.” Michael looks in the rear view mirror as they drive off, the stranger standing in the middle of the parking lot with something in his hand. It's probably better they didn't find out what he wanted. Lindsay peers over her shoulder a bit before turning back to her wearily.

“I don’t remember ever seeing anyone like that around here,” she says.

“Your family hasn’t been out here for a while,” Mica reminds her. “Maybe he's new?”

“He's probably just passing through,” Michael tries to assure them. “Would you guys lighten up? He's just some dude minding his own business.” None of them look particularly convinced and honestly, neither is Michael. He assures himself he's just been watching too much horror stuff.

“Great,” Ray says sarcastically. “Can’t wait to be axe murdered in the woods.”

“That's not funny, Ray,” Gavin insists, giving his leg a kick. “That guy was scary!”

“Who cares!” Michael growls. “Let's just get to the cabin already!” Fortunately, he's not the only one that doesn't want to think about it too much. They gradually return to their cheerful mood a bit further down the road, too excited to really be kept down by anything right now. It's not that much further to the cabin and Michael gladly parks them out front in the easiest way to let them start unpacking their trailer.

“Gross,” Ray grumbles as he finally gets out of the car. He gives Michael a mild look, one that obviously says he regrets letting Michael talk him into this, but he just sighs and knows it's too late to go back. Lindsay unlocks the front door and they all pad inside curiously. Michael takes a short look around as Lindsay tests a few lights to make sure the power is on. It's a little dusty but still in good shape and otherwise clean.

Jeremy yanks the cover off one of the couch, scattering dust everywhere, but leaving the couch looking more or less like new. Happily he hops onto it and stretches himself out with a pleased groan. Gavin comes to join him and Jeremy gladly moves over so the two of them can cuddle together like they're attached at the hip. Ray plants himself on the recliner.

“Hey assholes,” Michael barks at them. “Don’t get comfortable yet. We gotta get this food unpacked before it gets dark.”

“And turn the gas on,” Lindsay insists. “If you want heat and warm water anyways.”

“Preferably,” Mica agrees, leaning against Lindsay’s back a little. “A warm bath sounds pretty nice right now.” Lindsay grins at her a bit, giving her an affectionate kiss over the shoulder.

“You guys get unpacking,” Michael says. “Lindsay and I will get the gas turned on.” Begrudgingly, they all agree and head outside again. The sooner they're done, the sooner they get to relax. Michael follows Lindsay down into the basement. It's even dustier down here and dimmer, the only light barely enough to cover the whole room. Aside from the utilities, there's two floor freezers for storing extra game and a washer and dryer for laundry.

Lindsay's family is well off to afford keeping this place despite not using it for years now. Ideally they would have gone to Mica’s family vacation home, it's much livelier and less eerie, but it's also out of country and they weren't all able to get their passports in time. There's always next time. Michael is sort of regretting not going this time, honestly.

“Alright, gas is on,” Lindsay confirms. “Dad said we should just have to light the pilot and we should be good.”

“Easy enough,” Michael nods, taking the light she gives him to get down next to the water heater. He's always been the handyman type so this turns out to be a very easy task for the two of them- easier than unloading. Instead of returning immediately, the two of them take a moment to loiter in the basement once they're done.

“At least my parents thought to put everything away before we left last time,” Lindsay notes, pulling out a vacuum sealed bundle of blankets from a box sat in a corner. “Makes things easier on us.”

“Yeah,” Michael snorts a laugh. “Thank god your mom's more of a neat freak than you are.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Lindsay scoffs back.

“It means I've been your roommate for two fucking years and I don't think I've seen you clean once,” he assures. Lindsay makes a talking motion with one hand.

“Sorry, _mother_ , I'll try to remember that next time,” she says sarcastically. Before Michael can get another word in, he's being yelled for again.

“Michael!” Gavin yelps. “Get up here, boy! That freak is back! Michael please!” Michael looks at Lindsay unsurely who only looks increasingly worried from last time. They hurry back upstairs to find the others now crowded around the back sliding doors. Sure enough, it looks like their friend from the shop is slowly but surely making his way towards the cabin. Michael feels his heartbeat quicken nervously.

“Michael,” Jeremy whispers. “Make him go away, Michael.” How did he end up being the ringleader here? He supposes that happened when everyone decided to hide behind him. Michael tries to ease himself again.

“Lindsay,” he says sternly. “Your family keeps a gun here, right?” Lindsay looks at him worriedly, but ultimately she nods.

“Yeah,” she murmurs. “In the safe in the master bedroom- for hunting.”

“Or protection,” Michael assures fleetingly. If he has to, he's not afraid to use it. For now, though, he just steps outside while the rest of his friends coward inside the house. “Hey asshole!” he calls. The stranger stops. He's too far away for Michael to really see what he has or what he's doing. Once again, perhaps for the better. “This is private property! I will call the cops!”

The stranger doesn’t move for a moment before finally scratching his head, then turning and walking away. That was way scarier than it should have been. Michael stills his heart as he heads back inside.

“Did he follow us?” Mica asks, fear obvious in her tone. “Why would he do that?”

“You said the shop owners used to live in the cabin across the lake, right?” Michael points out, nodding at Lindsay for confirmation. “They probably sold the place to live closer to their shop. He just got lost is all.” There's a brief moment of silence, none of them believing him even remotely. “I'm telling you, it's just a misunderstanding.”

“I guess,” Lindsay finally says. She locks the door behind him. “Did you guys get everything out?”

“Almost everything,” Mica assures.

“Just a few things in the back,” Jeremy agrees. “Nothing too important.”

“We saw him coming and got scared,” Gavin admits quietly. Michael huffs.

“I'm going to take a look around, alright? Make you guys feel better or something,” he grumbles. Mostly, though, make himself feel better. They all nod agreeably, grinning pleasantly at his worry for them. He trudges off to make a round through the cabin. One at a time, Michael makes sure every window and door leading outside is locked, even the upstairs ones, checks under everything there is to check under, looks in all the closets and behind every shower curtain, and even makes sure the locks on all the doors work.

Once he's satisfied and feeling better, he returns to the living room where his friends have gotten on to hooking up their games in the living room. Michael is as much for games as the next person but they did just get here. Besides, he doesn’t want Ray to get too involved in something and end up spending all night on it as he's prone to do.

“What happened to campfires and s’mores?” he asks pointedly. They all look to one another.

“You want to go back out there?” Gavin replies incredulously.

“You guys are overreacting,” Michael urges. “Relax. We're here to have fun, remember? Besides-” He picks up a poker from the side of the fireplace, palming it in his hands. “It's not like we're going very far.”

“Alright, I guess,” Jeremy grumbles.

“If I have to run,” Ray says under his breath, trailing off as he gets up. Mica and Jeremy grab the stuff from the kitchen and Michael works on getting the brick fire pit lit. They're perfectly safe. The sun is still up, they're not even twenty feet from the house, and every door is locked except the one they came out of. Everything is fine. Again, Michael has to tell himself he's being paranoid and there's no way some weird murderer could move into the forest and no one would know. Some people are just weird!

None the less, he can’t help but think how useless his fire poker would really be to a man with a hook in his shoulder.

They relax a little around the fire, roasting marshmallows and chatting with one another animatedly. It's been far too long since they've had the opportunity to be together like this. Even Ray seems to be enjoying himself, inhaling perfectly roasted marshmallows like he's never eaten before. This might be the one thing Ray can cook without a microwave, honestly.

“Who wants to hear a scary story?” Lindsay asks with a devious grin.

“Lindsay no!” Gavin yips abhorantly.

“This vacation has already been way scarier than it should be!” Jeremy agrees in an equally high pitch. Lindsay giggles a little.

“You big babies,” she teases.

“You act like getting followed home by a strange man is the worst thing that could happen,” Mica says sarcastically.

“So none of you want to hear what happened to the last people that owned this cabin?” Lindsay asks as if to tempt them into changing their minds.

“No!” Gavin assures again. “Absolutely not!” They all laugh. Even so, Michael is already so anxious he's not sure his nerves could handle a scary story right now. He doesn’t even think he'll be able to sleep tonight.

“Instead of that piss poor idea,” Michael says. “I bet some skinny dipping would ease the nerves. Nothing like getting bare ass naked in a creepy forest, right?”

“With that guy around? No way,” Mica huffs, crossing her arms to cover her tits. “I already feel like he's watching us.”

“He's not watching us,” Lindsay tries to assure. “It's probably just the wolves. There's always been a lot of them around here.”

“I'm not drowning in some dirty fucking lake,” Ray agrees. “I have _some_ dignity.” Michael snorts a laugh that Ray doesn’t take too kindly to, shoving him irritably but playfully.

“Well,” Lindsay says. “There is a really big tub in the bathroom for the master bedroom. Much warmer than the lake, anyways.” Now that is definitely an idea Michael can get behind.

“Count me in,“ Jeremy hums gladly.

“As long as there aren’t fish in the tub, too,” Mica jokes.

“Alright, but we should gather some brush first,” Lindsay says. This is an idea nobody takes particularly well. “We're going to need something to keep the fire going in the house through the night.”

“Now we have to go into the woods?” Gavin asks scandalously.

“Not _in_ ,” Lindsay promises. “Just enough to grab some leaves and stuff.”

“Quit whinnin’,” Michael says, giving Gavin a small knock to the head. “We'll all go together, alright?” Safety in numbers, after all. Like lemmings to a cliff face. None the less, as long as they aren't getting separated, no one has much to complain about. They'd all rather get it done now while the sun is out than have to go looking after dark. Lindsay grabs the basket for collecting and Michael palms his fire poker idly, not really acting like it's a weapon that makes him feel a little better about wandering the woods.

Not wanting to stray very far, Lindsay leads them along a path to collect some dead sticks and twigs. While everyone else gathers, Michael largely just keeps an eye out. The forest is so wide, he feels like that creep can come at them from any angle. Ray sticks close to his side, occasionally grabbing his hand for comfort but rarely for very long. Perhaps getting a little too comfortable with having not seen their creep for a while, they wander out much further than they should.

“This should probably be enough,” Lindsay announces, holding her bundle of sticks with a grin. Mica curiously rifles through the basket of brush she carries, all flammable dead leaves and growth for helping light and keep a fire going. “We should be set for a few days I think.” Gavin screams. The noise immediately has Michael on the offense, suddenly brandishing his weapon much more maliciously as he finds himself heading towards Gavin- not away like a reasonable person.

Everyone else huddles behind him again, looking for him to keep them safe somehow. Gavin immediately beelines to join them, urgently hanging on Michael's back for protection. Fortunately, it's not the creep. It's much worse. Before, they could just tell themselves it was a misunderstanding; not anymore. The dead, disassembled body lays out for anyone to see.

Michael swallows nervously, taking a step back and causing everyone to move with him. The body is sorted, both arms side by side to one side of the torso, and both legs each chopped in two side by side beneath it. The entire thing is surrounded by a ring of rocks like some sort of morbid showcasing and decorated with what he can only assume are wolf teeth.

“Holy shit,” Ray breathes out.

“I told you he was a murderer! I told you!” Gavin yelps, pulling at Michael's arm harder. “We gotta go! We gotta go before he gets us, too! You saw the way he was looking at us, Michael!”

“Okay!” Michael snaps back. “You need to relax! Everybody relax! We're going to go back to the cabin, we're going to get back in the van, and we're going to drive back to the shop and get the police. Alright?” The faster they get out of here, the better. Jeremy rambles out several noises of distress before urgently pointing into the trees.

“There he is! Run!” he shouts. No one needs to be told twice. Immediately they all bolt back towards the cabin as quick as they can manage. This is not what Michael signed up for! This is not what their vacation was supposed to be!

“Jeremy,” Gavin says urgently, grabbing his boyfriend's hand for some comfort. Michael instinctively grabs Ray for safety and Lindsay drops everything she's holding to latch onto Mica. They're not that far out and the cabin is locked up, as long as they get there they'll be safe. At least, Michael hopes.

He swears, though, he hears the trap go off in slow motion. The sudden and solid metal ‘clank’. There’s a small beat of silence before Jeremy lets out an agonized shout. They all jolt to a stop, turning on him urgently.

“Jeremy!” Gavin yells desperately. It takes Jeremy a moment to realise what has happened before he lets out another pained grunt and looks down at his leg in pure shock. That is a big bear trap. The sharp teeth dig into Jeremy’s skin, holding him down in place effortlessly.

“No no no,” Jeremy whispers. “No no. Please.”

“Go!” Michael shouts at the rest of them. They hesitate, obviously not wanting to leave Jeremy behind, but ultimately take off. Gavin stays behind, urgently trying to figure out how to open the trap. Michael tries to shove him away. “Gavin, _go_!”

“Not without Jeremy!” he yelps back. Michael curses under his breath but he knows there's no point in wasting time arguing with him. He yanks at the chain of the trap, hoping it to not be attached to anything too troublesome. Instead, it's firmly chained around the trunk of a tree, making it impossible for Michael to simply pick Jeremy and the trap up. He looks back hurriedly, making sure the killer isn’t close by phone before quickly trying to pry the trap open. Jeremy hisses in pain.

“Step on the spring,” Michael instructs hastily. Gavin quickly obeys, the two of them doing their best to loosen the jaws even a little so Jeremy can wriggle free. It's such a big trap, though, and even their weight combined is not enough to compress the powerful springs. “Shit, _shit_.”

Another urgent look over the shoulder assures they don’t have much time. The killer is now in sight, heading directly for them at a leisurely pace- for a while. He starts jogging and Michael nearly has a heart attack. As a last effort, Michael jabs the fire iron into the trap mechanisms in hope of breaking something. Instead, he breaks his fire iron. They can't- they can’t stay here. Michael grabs Gavin’s arm.

“Come on,” he hisses.

“No, no,” Jeremy begs. “Please. Michael don't.”

“Michael!” Gavin yells, holding onto Jeremy tightly. Michael physically has to pry him off. He doesn’t want to, he most certainly doesn’t want to leave Jeremy behind, but they don't have a choice. They can’t help him and Michael isn’t about to let them all get killed. Gavin shouts and hits him as Michael forcibly drags him away. Jeremy is probably in too much shock to say anything. He stops struggling once Jeremy is out of sight. Michael tries not to think about it- there was nothing they could do.

Hurriedly, they run back to the cabin and Michael is already pissed to see none of them in the van yet. Lindsay holds the front door open, gesturing them inside before quickly snapping it closed. Gavin collapses.

“Get in the car!” Michael shouts.

“We tried, asshole,” Ray scoffs back. “ _Someone_ locked the keys in the trailer.” He gives Gavin a cold stare before turning back to the back window. Michael presses his hands into his head in stress. That's bad. That's so bad.

“Where’s Jeremy?” Mica asks slowly.

“We have to call the police,” Michael instructs.

“There’s no landline,” Lindsay murmurs. “None of us get signal out here, Michael.” Oh, even better! Michael hurriedly pulls out his phone to check for himself, sure enough not even the slightest hint of a signal. Mica grabs his arm hard.

“Michael,” she says again. “Where's Jeremy.”

“We killed him!” Gavin sobs loudly. “We let the killer get him!” Michael yanks away from her.

“What did you expect me to do?” he growls. “Do you know how hard it is to open a bear trap?”

“Oh my god,” Mica murmurs, gripping her chest. She sits just to assure he doesn’t lose her balance.

“We killed Jeremy,” Lindsay whispers.

“ _We_ did everything we fucking could,” Michael snaps back. “That fucking freak killed him!”

“Yeah, and we're next,” Ray murmurs. “But hey, it looks like he's busy with Jeremy at least.” He holds the binoculars out and Michael snatches them away to look out across the lake. Sure enough, he sees their killer walking off with Jeremy over his shoulder. More importantly, though, it looks like Jeremy is moving.

“He's not dead,” Michael says. Gavin bolts upright.

“He's not‽” he yelps.

“Not yet,” Ray assures charmingly.

“We have to help him, Michael!” Gavin begs. “We just left him there! We have to try at least!” Michael grounds his teeth. Walking straight into the devil's den doesn’t exactly sound like a wise idea. He doesn’t want to get anyone else hurt but if Jeremy is still alive- he has to help. He can’t just wait around and pretend like he did everything.

“Lindsay, we need that gun,” Michael says in as firm of a voice as he can manage.

“Michael,” she murmurs back.

“Lindsay! Now is not the time! We need that gun if we're going to help Jeremy,” he barks at her.

“No,” she replies. “It's not that. I- don't know the combination, Michael.”

“You what?” he snaps back. “What the fuck do you mean you don't know the fucking combination‽”

“It's a gun safe! My parents never told me the combination! Why would they?” Lindsay bites back. So much for that idea. Michael holds his head as he tries to think. They do not have a lot of time and their options are very limited.

“I'm going to go and help Jeremy,” he finally says. He'll figure out the rest of his plan when he gets there.

“I'm going, too!” Gavin assures. “I have to help him. I can't just leave him out there, Michael.”

“Me, too,” Lindsay urges. “The last thing we need is you two getting lost out there.”

“Idiots,” Michael scoffs under his breath. He supposes a part of him just wanted to be able to sacrifice himself to save Jeremy for even thinking about leaving him behind. “ _Alright_ , fine. Whatever. Ray, Mica, you two stay here. Either get in that fucking safe, get in the fucking car, or get a hold of the _fucking_ police. Otherwise we're going to be digging our own graves any fucking ways.”

“We'll try,” Mica agrees softly. She and Lindsay exchange a nervous little parting kiss. Michael grabs the wood cutting axe, anything to defend them if it comes to it, and Lindsay grabs a tire iron. He feels like neither of these things are really going to help them in the long run. Gavin frets nervously for a moment, unsure of what to arm himself with. Michael just palms his utility knife into Gavin’s hand. He's not exactly a fighter anyways and Michael doesn’t need him feeling brave enough to take on that brute of a man.

“Michael,” Ray says as they begin out. “Be careful, man.” Michael isn't sure that's really a choice anymore. They head out and he immediately grabs a long branch from a nearby tree before they get too far.

“Stay _directly_ behind me,” he instructs sharply. Lindsay and Gavin both nod in agreement, allowing Michael to cautiously lead the way. He uses his branch to assure they won’t step into another bear trap on the way, the setting sun and dense leaf floor making it so hard to see. They try to stay closer to the lake, assuring they have as much visual as possible to see the killer coming. When they reach the other side where Michael saw him disappear into the trees with Jeremy, they have to wander into the trees.

“I changed my mind,” Gavin murmurs. “I hate the woods.” It's a little late for that, isn’t it? They move as quick as they can without potentially walking into another trap or drawing attention to themselves. They don’t know how long Jeremy has; it's a miracle the creep didn't just outright kill him. Michael worries that he might have and that what he saw was either wrong or too hopeful and he’s just leading them to their dooms.

“Christ,” Lindsay breaths as they come across an old, broken down building. “I forgot this was out here. They used to slaughter meat here before they sold it for vacationing. I guess they never tore it down.”

“Looks like as creepy as a place as any for a mass murderer,” Michael assures. “Stay low.” With nowhere else to look, they have to check here. Carefully, they press along the outer wall, peering inside wherever they can, and make their way to the side door. The rusty, old thing is broken off easily with his axe but Michael flinches at the noise it makes. He scouts ahead a little, making sure there's no one immediately inside and then the other two follow.

“I don’t want to be in here,” Gavin whimpers.

“Then you shouldn’t have come,” Michael sneers back. Gavin goes quiet again. They make their way through the office and onto the floor where it is largely more horrifying. The place is just full of meat dangling off hooks. Bones and scrap lay in filthy piles all over the place and there is barely an inch of this place not covered in blood; a lot of it fresh. Most of the meat is too disfigured to tell what it is, chopped down into bits too small. Some of it Michael can tell is animal, other bits- he's not so sure. Gavin gags.

“I don’t hear anything,” Lindsay murmurs. “I don’t think he's here.” Either that or he's already dead.

“Do you think he's-” Gavin asks worriedly.

“No,” Michael answers immediately. “I doubt that freak would be so quick about it.” This simultaneously comforts and concerns Gavin. Hearing nothing quickly becomes hearing something. Unfortunately, it's not what they want to hear. The front doors of the slaughter house open suddenly and Michael shoves them into the nearest hiding place to stay out of sight. He only peeks out when he's sure it's safe.

The killer wanders in to look around, carrying a bloody bear trap in one of his hands. He looks around and behind some things and for a moment, Michael is worried he's going to scrounge the place. Instead, he just turns to leave, obviously coming up empty handed. Michael lets out a breath he didn't know he held and quickly gestures them back out the way they came. If Jeremy isn’t here, they have to go.

It's not until they reach the back door that Michael realises the killer hasn’t left. Gavin shrieks when the back door suddenly opens in front of them and the killer stands there in all his menacing glory.

“Run!” Michael shouts. They take off through the slaughterhouse, trying to get out through the front door before they're caught. Gavin stumbles over a chunk of meat and Michael urgently helps him to keep moving. When he looks over his shoulder, the killer jogs behind them so close, Michael can see his scar riddled face all over again. He reaches out, but fortunately they're just out of reach.

Lindsay shouts in pain so suddenly. Gavin doesn’t stop running but Michael hesitates. Not all of the meat hooks have meat on them, something Lindsay seems to have learned the hard way. While trying to weave between the hanging carcasses, she's run directly onto one of the razor sharp hooks, impaling herself on it. The killer is so close, he's on her immediately.

“No!” Lindsay screams, trying to kick him away. Michael gestures Gavin to go on without them. He takes his axe and rushes back to try to help, pulling it back and swinging it as hard as he can. It connects, but not with the killer. There's not enough room and his axe gets caught in another piece of meat. The killer looks back at him curiously and Michael jolts. He tries to pull his axe free but it's wedged too deeply.

“Run Michael!” Lindsay yells at him. Michael panics. He takes off, bolting out of the slaughterhouse and right after Gavin. _Fuck_. For a split moment, he turns around to run back but without a weapon, what good is he? Hell, with a weapon what good was he? All he'll be doing is throwing himself at the killer. He runs back to the cabin, staying on the water's edge to a avoid any hidden traps.

Gavin beats him there but Michael is right on his heels, slamming the door closed behind them. He locks it tightly, trying to regain his breath. Holy shit, he killed Lindsay, too. This is why he wanted to go alone! He's already gotten two of his friends _murdered_.

“Lindsay?” Mica murmurs. “No. Michael no. Oh no, oh no.” She starts crying before she even gets any confirmation. Michael doesn’t look at her.

“He got her,” Gavin says in disbelief. “He got her and Jeremy. I- I-” He puts his face in his hands.

“Tell me you got that safe open,” Michael says firmly. Mica shakes her head, trying to wipe her tears away with no success.

“Ray's working on it,” she murmurs. Mica tries to push past him and Michael grabs her arm.

“Where are you going?” he asks but he already knows the answer. She jerks out of his grip.

“I'm going to get my girlfriend,” she assures sharply. Michael grabs her again to stop her from leaving.

“Mica, all you're going to do is get yourself killed, too,” he snaps at her. “We just have to wait until we can get some help.” Mica squirms to get away from him, hitting him hard in the face to try to get free but Michael holds her steadfast even then.

“Let go of me, Michael!” she shouts at him. “I am going to get Lindsay whether you like it or not!”

“You're not getting yourself fucking killed, too, Mica!” Michael shouts back at her.

“You haven’t exactly been an all mighty protector,” she yells. She hits him again, harder this time, and discombobulates him enough into letting go. Before he can grab her again, she's out the door. Michael urgently makes chase, nearly tripping over his own feet for the effort, but loses sight of her in the trees. All he can hear is his own heartbeat.

“Mica!” Michael calls after her. She didn't even bring anything to defend herself with. Not that it matters much in the end. “Mica!” She's long gone. Michael storms back inside, slamming the door closed and locking it. He grabs Gavin, making him get back up, and helps him into the master bedroom with Ray. When they enter, Ray only pauses long enough to glance back at him before continuing toying with the safe.

“What are you doing?” Michael asks.

“Passing the time while I await some serial killer to come slaughter us,” he replies passively. “I couldn't find the code anywhere.” There's no way he's just going to _guess_ the combination.

“Forget it, Ray,” Michael says. “We gotta go. There's got to be something around here to get that trailer open with.”

“Mica tried getting the wifi up so we could call someone but no luck,” Ray murmurs. “It's weird, even the emergency call doesn’t work. Almost like something’s blocking it.”

“Yeah, Ray! Like the mass murdering freak!” Michael assures him. Ray shrugs. “Come on. We need to stay together. Maybe there's a crowbar somewhere.” Having no arguments of his own, Ray gets up to follow Michael out of the room. Gavin is mostly non responsive, likely in too much shock to function properly. Michael and Ray just lead him around for the time being while they search for something to get into their trailer with.

“There's a shed out back,” Ray notes. “Maybe there's something out there.”

“Well there's definitely nothing in here,” he growls. He doesn’t like the idea of heading back outside but it they already don't have a lot of options. A quick look around sort of assures there's no killer and quickly the three of them make for the shed. A howl echoes in the distance and Michael swallows nervously. He hopes Mica is okay and hopes even more that she'll come back before they leave but he can’t say he expects it. There's no way they can wait for her.

Michael rattles the shed door before taking a step back and bashing the lock off with his foot. It's a small shed and unfortunately, mostly empty. He rummages around for anything useful. There's a broken weedwhacker, a lawnmower and gas can, some fishing supplies, and garden care.

Michael stops just long enough to see Ray out the little window. He watches him warily, not liking him so far away, as Ray picks something up from the porch of the house. It better be damn important for Ray to wander away from them.

“Ray!” he shouts and Ray looks in his direction. “Get over here, asshole!” He waits long enough to assure Ray obeys before going back to his search. Finally he spots a crowbar under some disassembled junk of another lawnmower. Michael gets tries to move the stuff out of the way but it's heavier than it looks. He gets it moved enough to reach his arm in and grab it at least.

Which is exactly when he sees the killer out the window. Michael freezes. He's so close to Ray and Ray, the idiot, doesn’t run. They just seem to be staring each other down, neither of them moving. Michael tries to yank his arm free but he's stuck, the metal junk digging into his arm and pinning him in place with its weight. No. God no. He's already lost so many friends, he can’t lose Ray, too. Please god not Ray.

“Ray!” Michael shouts, trying to urge him to move. Ray turns to look at him again; a mistake. The killer lunges quickly, grabbing Ray out of the blue and sprinting off with him without warning- not a jog but a full fledged run. Michael struggles to get free. “Ray! Gavin do something!” There isn't exactly much he can do, especially in his state, but he seems to still have enough sense to at least try to help Michael get free. It doesn’t help much.

By the time Michael finally frees himself, minus a few chunks of skin, Ray and the killer is long gone. Michael grabs his hair in stress, immediately taking to pacing around. What does he do? What _can_ he do? He has to go get Ray. What does it even matter? Everyone else is already fucking dead save for him and Gavin, he might as fucking well. He can’t leave Ray.

Michael grabs the can of gas and a pair of garden sheers before pushing Gavin to move. Two can play this fucking game. He's going to boat across this fucking lake to that fucking creep’s cabin and burn it to the ground if it's the last thing he does. He palms the lighter in his pocket, the same one he used to ignite the pilot light. Hurriedly, he tosses the can of gas into the little rowboat sat on the lake beach and urges Gavin into it as well. If they hurry, maybe they can still save Ray. If they're lucky, maybe he hasn't even found Mica yet.

With some strength, Michael pushes the boat the rest of the way into the water and hops in alongside Gavin. They never should have come out here, they never should have strayed away from the house, they never should have a lot of things. He rows them across the lake and Gavin fidgets and rocks the entire time, looking around wildly as he gets more and more distressed. There's not a lot Michael can do to help him right now.

When they get closer to the other side of the lake, Michael can see the other cabin nestled behind some trees. Several lights inside are on and the whole thing is overgrown with vines and brush. Gavin looks over his shoulder at the house and proceeds to become a little panicked.

“Relax, buddy,” Michael says quietly. “It's okay. You're safe in the boat.” He doesn’t know if that's a lie or not but Gavin nods all the same and relaxes if but minutely. Just a few feet from the shore, Michael sees the killer wander out of the cabin. He trudges down to the beach and stares out at them. It would have been great if he hadn’t seen them but this is fine. One way or another, Michael is burning this cabin down even if the whole forest has to go with it.

That's the plan at least. The moment Gavin catches sight of the killer, he freaks out. Michael grabs for him, trying to calm him down again but there is no consoling him. He rocks the boat and then, tips it. They both fling into the water and Michael gasps as he tries to surface again. Gavin flails wildly, immediately beginning to sink like a stone. As Michael is trying to help him, he spots the killer wading into the water. It's hard to help Gavin and all Michael gets for it is a bloody nose.

When the killer gets close, Michael tries to hit him, anything to get him away, but it's hard. The killer doesn’t even seem to notice. Instead, he just grabs Gavin and starts heading back to shore. Michael swims after them. It's cold and somehow, he's a slower swimmer than the massive man carrying Gavin off. They get to the shore before him and the killer pauses to look back at him before trudging to the cabin with Gavin over his shoulder. Michael pushes himself to move fast.

Once on the shore, he doesn’t even give himself a second to recover, immediately sprinting for the cabin.

“Gavin!” he shouts, barreling into the door. It opens much easier than he thought it would, as if it weren't closed at all, and he stumbles onto his face from his own force. Someone, notably not Gavin, yelps.

“Michael!” Lindsay says. “What are you doing?” What. Michael lifts his head, soaking wet and shivering, but still in one piece. Lindsay looks down at him curiously. “Are you alright?” What is going on here? Jeremy pokes his head out of one of the rooms curiously as Michael pushes himself upward. Already he's pretty fucking pissed off.

“Me?” he snaps. “What The fuck happened to you? Why aren’t you dead?” In fact, it seems like the exact opposite; her shoulder is bandaged up and likewise, Jeremy limps out in a cast. Lindsay helps Michael to his feet and tries to help him get some of the dirt and sand off his dripping wet clothes.

“He bandaged me up,” she says.

“He did?” Micheal repeats. “Who did? You- I saw the killer grab you.”

“Um,” Lindsay murmurs slowly. “Yeeah. About that.”

\- x -

“Michael!” Gavin shouts. They're leaving him here. They're leaving him to get murder by some strange killer in the woods. Jeremy can’t believe it. He's not sure what he expects them to do for him, his leg is thoroughly trapped and broken by the feel of it, but he doesn’t want to be left alone. Urgently, he tries to free himself, struggling to pry the trap open and only managing to cut his fingers in the process.

“Oh god no, please,” he whispers to himself, yanking at the chain and the broken fire iron to do _anything_. Jeremy glances over his shoulder, only startling himself more when he realises how close the killer is now. He struggles harder, twisting his injured leg in the trap in hopes that maybe it'll at least tear it off. It hurts so much but he's so afraid and full of panic, he doesn’t even notice. Tears stain his face and his breathing shallows in pure terror.

“Stop,” a gravelly voice says. Jeremy yelps loudly as a hand touches his shoulder and he yanks away, nearly tripping himself. The killer grabs him before he falls.

“No! Please! I don’t want to die!” Jeremy sobs, trying to push the beast of a man off him. “Please.” The killer ignores him, crouching down to look at the bear trap. With some effort, he holds one end down and forces it open with nothing but brute strength. Immediately some of the pain is gone but without the trap bracing him, Jeremy can feel the break in his leg give. The killer holds him upright, preventing him from collapsing as he moves the trap out of the way.

When he stands again, Jeremy struggles to get away. He knows he won’t get very far with his leg like this but he has to try. He doesn’t want to die like this.

“Sorry,” the killer murmurs. Jeremy hyperventilates, only causing him to choke on his sobs.

“You don't have to do this, please,” he begs again. The killer shakes the bear trap a little.

“Should be more careful,” he grunts. “Can you walk?” Jeremy is confused. Why doesn't he just kill him already? Or drag him off or something? Not that Jeremy wants that but he doesn’t understand. Slowly, he shakes his head. Maybe this guy like the chase- but then why put down bear traps?

“Broken leg,” the man comments, gesturing to Jeremy’s injury. “Real bad. Struggled too much.” He then crouches down and pulls Jeremy over his shoulder carefully, as if not wanting to hurt him any further, and hoists him up. Jeremy doesn’t struggle as much now, not wanting to injure himself on the hooks and nails in his skin. This guy is- trying to help him?

“You're not going to kill me?” he asks tentatively. The guy huffs a small laugh.

“No? Why would I?” comes the curious reply.

“The- the body. We found your body,” Jeremy insists. “You hacked it apart and displayed it and everything.” The killer seems confused by this, pondering the idea as he carries Jeremy through the woods.

“Oh,” he finally says in recognition. “No. Did not kill him. Wolves.”

“Wolves?” Jeremy repeats slowly. Like what a bear trap would actually be for.

“Very aggressive. That is-” He snaps, a gesture indicating he can not think of the word. He doesn’t seem to talk too well, perhaps why he seemed to have been so creepy before; he's self conscious about the way he talks.

“Grave?” Jeremy offers.

“Yes,” he agrees. “Respect for the dead.”

Holy shit, Michael was right. This is all just a huge misunderstanding.

\- x -

“Run Michael!” Lindsay yells and there’s a brief moment of panic on Michael’s face before he bolts out the slaughterhouse after Gavin. The killer tries to grab her and Lindsay adamantly kicks him in the chest, trying to push him away. He barely seems to notice. Worse still, the more she struggles, the more the hook digs into her skin and tears through her shoulder. It hurts so much.

“Get away from me,” she huffs angrily, doing her best to try to worm off the hook with what little footing she has.

“Stop struggling,” the killer gruffs. Lindsay gives him another kick to the leg, more out of anger now than deterrence. The killer wraps his arm around her waist and she tries to shove him off with little luck. He’s so big! He lifts her a little and Lindsay grimaces as she awaiting being places higher up on the hook. Instead, he sets her down. Huh? The guy looks down at her and she blinks, expecting him to do something.

And he does. He puts his hand between her breast, such a big hand, flush against her sternum and presses the other to the injury on her shoulder. What is he doing? With a small lurch, he grabs her shoulder and jerks it back into place. Lindsay flinches but she does have to say that feels much better. Then he lets her go again.

“Not bad,” he says. “Maybe get infected is all.” She touches the gouge in her skin with a few fingers tentatively, still a little sore but she’s sure it’ll be worse once the adrenaline wears off. “Can you walk?”

“Oh, uh, yeah,” Lindsay murmurs quietly. Jeez, he’s not some wandering killer after all, is he? The guy holds his hand out and she looks at it a moment before placing her hand in the much bigger one. He leads her away slowly, continuously turning to make sure she is keeping with her her injury and smaller stature.

“Where- are you taking me?” she asks nervously. He still gives her a bit of the creeps but perhaps that is just because he’s so big- or maybe it’s the hook and nails in his skin.

“My cabin,” he assures. “Your friend hurt, too. Fixed leg.”

“Jeremy?” Lindsay replies. He’s not dead? The man nods agreeably. “I have to go tell my other friends. They’ll be worried.” This time, he shakes his head. Admittedly, that instinctively makes her a little more nervous about his intentions.

“No,” he says. “Wolves out. Aggressive.” He had been coming to warn them about the wolves, hadn’t he? As well as the traps he probably set to catch said wolves. They must have freaked him out yelling at him that they were going to call the cops. Lindsay feels so bad for assuming the worst about him just because he looks a little intimidating now.

“You can’t take me over there? My other friends don’t know about the wolves,” she urges. He shakes his head again.

“Dangerous. You stay in cabin. I will get them,” he promises.

“Um,” Lindsay replies nervously. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. They, uh, are afraid of you.”

“Afraid?” he repeats curiously.

“We sort of thought you were, uh, a serial killer,” she admits quietly. He looks down at her inquisitively, obviously having no idea why they would think this at all.

“Jeremy friend said that, too,” he murmurs. “Very weird.” Alright, so they made a bit of a bad call and sort of brought this on themselves. Ms. Pattillo did try to tell them he was harmless and they paid no attention because he’s a little ‘creepy’. He’s actually really sweet.

“Well,” she says. “You do have a hook in your shoulder. _Why_ do you have a hook in your shoulder?” He shifts uncomfortably, suddenly looking off the side and sheepishly rubbing his face. “Oh, I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell me. That was rude.”

“Thanks,” he sighs in relief. The gent guides her to his cabin and gestures her inside where it is much cleaner and friendlier than it looks from the outside.

Instinctively, Lindsay looks around to make sure Jeremy really is here and she hasn’t been lied to. The guy leads her down the hall and sure enough, there’s Jeremy snoozing away in a bed with his leg in a cast. Perhaps if they hadn’t run away like cowards when Jeremy got trapped they would have figured out this guy really isn’t a blood thirsty killer. He motions her to sit, which she does, and grabs a first aid kit before sitting with her.

Though he is a big, he is very gentle, too. He cleans her wound, stopping whenever she flinches too much to make sure he’s not hurting her, then numbs the spot so he can sew it closed. Jeremy stirs a little, groggily glancing around a bit before spotting Lindsay. They grin at each other awkwardly, now both of them very aware of the mistake they’ve made.

“What happened to you?” Jeremy asks.

“Ran into a meat hook looking for you,” Lindsay laughs a little.

“Sorry,” he murmurs. “He said it was too dangerous for me to leave, especially with my leg the way it is.” The stranger nods, assuring that he did say that.

“We have to tell the others,” Lindsay urges. “Before they do something bad.”

“I help,” he assures.

“Just, be careful, alright?” she says softly. “They’re scared.”

\- x -

Mica shudders as she trudges through the trees, trying to keep an eye out for any traps she could potentially wander into. It’s colder out here than she thought it would be and in her distress, she hadn’t even thought to grab something to defend herself with. It’s not that she blames Michael, at least she tells herself that, but she can’t just leave Lindsay in the hands of the killer like this. Even if it’s just a distraction, she has to help.

The rustle of bushes behind her makes her jump, immediately alert to whatever has found its way to her. Fortunately, it’s not the killer. Unfortunately, Mica isn’t sure this is much better. The wolf looks so much bigger than she ever assumed wolves actually were and it approaches her slowly. She backs away from it at the same pace, doing her best not to agitate it. Not that it does her much good.

“Oh fuck!” The wolf howls as it sprints at her, taking no hesitation in lunging at her even as she tries to run. It catches its teeth in one of her legs and brings her down immediately. Of course she wasn’t going to outrun a fucking wolf, she knew that. Mica kicks her heel into its face, trying to dislodge it but the wolf doesn’t care in the slightest. It Instead, it jumps for her tender face and throat, wasting no time going in for the kill. She throws her arms up to shield herself and the wolf tears at her forearms and chest with its razor sharp teeth.

Not wanting to reveal her throat to the thing, let alone her face, Mica is forced to keep herself defended with her arms and little else. It hurts so much but she doesn’t know what else to do. Finally, it stops. Mica stays still, not wanting to risk it potentially trying to outsmart her, but when nothing happens for far too long, she peeks out from between her arms. Sure enough, the wolf has stopped its attack and now seems to be suspended over her.

Mica gradually separates her arms to see what’s happened. She’s not sure what’s better, the aggressive wolf or the cold blooded killer. The killer holds the wolf up by the nape of its neck so _effortlessly_. Not taking the time to make a choice, Mica urgently rolls onto her stomach and tries to crawl away while the two of them are busy with each other. It hurts even more trying to maneuver on her raw arms, however, and she doesn’t get very far. The pain is too much and the forest floor digs into her wounds in the worst way possible.

The wolf lets out a pained whimper behind her and Mica’s heart lurches. Done with the wolf, the killer comes after her. Mica tries to lay still, perhaps hoping to convince him she’s dead, but it doesn’t work in the slightest. He rolls her over carefully and Mica lets out a terrified little gasp. Immediately, she can see the wolf hanging from a tree with a meat hook through its head. At least the killer gave it the pleasure of being dead first. Hopefully she can at least get that much.

He glances her over and then hurriedly looks away again. Mica’s heart sinks to the lowest place when he starts taking off his jacket. He places it over her before gently lifting her on one side to tuck his jacket under her, then the other. Using the sleeves, he sort of swaddles her in it. Mica blinks curiously. What is he doing? She’s already too injured to escape, why is he trying to tie her up- and poorly at that?

“Don’t move,” he says. “You’re hurt.” Well yeah, she knows that. As if trying not to hurt her anymore, the stranger carefully picks her up like she weighs nothing and cradles her in one arm to assure he doesn’t put pressure on any of her injuries. Oh, he’s- a good guy. So her friends, Lindsay and Jeremy, are alright? She just watches quietly as he grabs the wolf he’s just killed with his free hand and drags it behind them. That thing was so mean, she didn’t know wolves attacked people so openly like that. She looks back up to the stranger.

“You’re not going to hurt me, are you?” Mica asks. He shakes his head.

“Try not to,” he assures. “Very injured.” She is pretty badly hurt and trying to crawl away only seems to have made her wounds sting more. They walk in silence for a bit, back towards the other side of the lake and the cabin hidden away there.

“So why’d you follow us to our cabin?” she asks.

“Didn’t follow,” he replies. “Came to warn about wolves. Aggressive. Attacks people. Have to put down traps.” The trap Jeremy stepped in. They probably shouldn’t have left him behind after all. Mica feels so bad about it now knowing there was never any danger. He was just trying to help.

“What about Lindsay?” she murmurs worriedly.

“Ran onto a meat hook,” he says. “Strange people.” That seems pretty unlikely but she supposes it would be pretty easy to walk into another trap meant for the wolves. He carries her all the way back to his cabin, only pausing in front of an old looking slaughterhouse to toss the dead wolf inside to take care of later. It seems he wasn’t lying to her at any rate.

“Mica!” Lindsay greets her immediately, hurriedly coming to their side and beginning her worried doting. Her shoulder is bandaged up tightly, a sign that something certainly happened to her. “Are you okay?”

“Wolf attack,” the stranger murmurs.

“Oh no,” Lindsay says softly.

“I’m okay, I think,” Mica assures. She’s injured but she’s not dead and if she can get patched up quickly, she should be fine. The stranger sets her on a bed in the back; surprisingly clean and very comfortable. Gingerly, he unwraps her to check her wounds but again, he nervously looks away, shielding his eyes with his hand. It’s now that Mica realises when the wolf attacked her, it ripped her shirt and her tit is just all kinds of out. This guy, jeez, he’s just a sweetheart, isn’t he?

“I can take care of her,” Lindsay promises him quickly, chuckling a little. He nods agreeably, excusing himself from the room without a word. Mica flinches a little as Lindsay examines the deep bites and gouges on her arms.

“Are you okay?” Mica asks quietly. “He hasn’t-?”

“No,” she laughs. “He’s just a little strange.”

“Michael’s going to be so mad,” Mica murmurs. Lindsay grimaces a little but just nods.

\- x -

Ray picks up the bag sitting by the porch with an odd look. Peering into it, he finds his league beanie. While he’d been unpacking earlier, he had noticed it missing but ultimately assumed he forgot to pack it. It must have fallen out of the van while Michael was putting the beer in the back. The more he thinks about it, the more obvious things become. There’s no way the shop owner brought it all this way, she couldn’t have even known it was his. As they were leaving the shop, their supposed axe murderer had tried to approach them. Ray wonders now if he had actually been trying to return this and if he came and left it on the porch when he came by earlier. Surely not he- hadn’t been that close, right?

“Ray!” Michael shouts and Ray looks in his direction. “Get over here, asshole!” Another howl gets Ray’s attention first. He’s been hearing them more and more as the night goes on and he’s pretty sure it’s not a single wolf. Lindsay had mentioned there are a lot of wolves out here, right? Lots of dangerous, blood thirsty wolves that perhaps they should have been warned about- that perhaps someone _tried_ to warn them about. The rustling only gets his attention because Michael has finally stopped his loud rummaging through the tool shed.

The killer stands shockingly neat by in the trees. The sight of him immediately makes Ray’s pulse sky rocket but he doesn’t move and neither does the killer. Carefully, Ray walks towards him. Either he’s right and this man really isn’t a threat to them or he’s wrong and most of his friends are dead anyways.

“Thanks for bringing my hat back,” he murmurs.

“You’re welcome,” the stranger replies. “No sudden movements.”

“Huh?” Ray says but he obeys all the same, too afraid not to. “What-”

“Wolf,” the stranger says. Slowly, Ray turns to the face the direction he discreetly motions to. Sure enough, there is a rather large wolf among the trees, crouched down and ready to attack at any moment. Oh. Good. “Calm.”

“Ray!” His boyfriend doesn’t know the meaning of calm. Ray isn’t sure if it’s that or the fact that he instinctively moves to look at him that spurs the wolf on but it jumps; he can see it just out the corner of his eye. The stranger grabs him even quicker, lifting him off his feet with such ease, and takes off into the trees before Ray can even make complete sense of what is happening.

All he can hear is his heart in his ears as the massive wolf follows behind them, so much faster. He’s trying to lead it away from Michael and Gavin, isn’t he? Ray just tries to hold on as he jostled through the woods, trying to find handholds that aren’t made exclusively from the weird bits stuck in him. The hook thing he can’t explain but whatever, he’s seen weirder body mods. When it becomes clear they’re not losing the beast, he comes to a slow.

“Whoa, hey man,” Ray says quickly. “I’m not a fighter. Don’t-” He’s hiked over the man’s broad shoulder before he can get much further. This isn’t exactly what he expected but okay. As the wolf lunges for them, the stranger kicks it hard in the chest. He’s certainly strong as hell, that’s already clear. Ray sort of wishes he was more out of the way, though. While the stranger tries to keep him above the fight, it still jerks Ray around in a way that makes him physically ill as the guy kicks and stomps the determined wolf into submission. Submission and then death.

“Alright,” Ray murmurs. “That was weird, let’s be honestly.”

“Mean dog,” the stranger assures.

“Yeah buddy,” he agrees. “Sure was. Could you put me down now?” Carefully, the man sets him back down on his feet and assures he has his footing on the uneven forest floor. He looks down at the dead wolf, so easily laid out by such a big dude. That thing absolutely would have killed him. Ray rubs the back of his head tiredly.

“Have to get to safety,” the stranger urges. Ray glances at him a little then back the way they came. Michael and Gavin are still outside. Those idiots aren’t going to be able to get away from a wolf, let alone kick it to death, like this guy did.

“I should warn my friends,” Ray replies. The stranger grabs his hand, tugging him in the opposite direction.

“I will get,” he assures, picking up the dead wolf in his other hand and heaving it over his shoulder.

“That sounds like the worst idea but okay,” Ray murmurs. Michael is under the assumption that this guy has been killing their friends and even now, he likely has no way of knowing that Ray was actually being rescued by a bloodthirsty dog- not kidnapped by a bloodthirsty murderer. He’s not sure how Michael is going to take being approached by him, especially now.

“Friends waiting,” he assures. That’s good to know. Hopefully Ray hasn’t greatly misred this situation.

“Yeah, thanks,” Ray says.

\- x -

“You’re still mad,” Lindsay says as she patches up Michael’s arm. “It’s not Ryan’s fault.” Michael stares at ‘Ryan’ from across the room and Ryan awkwardly fidgets and looks at literally anything else. Of course his name is Ryan. The giant fucking freak that looks like he’s gone through a blender and has a meat hook permanently embedded in one of his shoulders is named- Ryan.

“No,” Michael scoffs. “I’m not mad.” He just thought all his friends had been brutally murdered by some creep stalking through the woods like a serial killer is all. He thought he was sacrificing his friends all because this guy couldn’t take two seconds to say ‘hey neighbor, I’m hunting wolves’.

“We probably shouldn’t had judged him so quickly,” Mica agrees quietly.

“You know what judging gets you? Not killed by some mass murdering freak,” Michael grumbles back. He’s going to be permanently scarred for life. At least that’s something he and Ryan have in common.

“He helped us,” Lindsay insists. Michael scoffs. He’s not arguing that, he’s just a little bitter that he just spent the last twelve hours panicking over the various deaths of his friends only to discover they’re not only totally fine but hanging out in the cabin of the guy he thought had murdered them. Really, he thinks he deserves to be a _little_ upset. Michael just watches as Ryan finally gets up and shuffles out of the room.

“We did sort of freak him out by threatening to call the police,” Jeremy murmurs.

“Why is he afraid of the police if he didn’t do anything?” Michael replies. Mica gives him a pointed look. “Alright, fine, whatever. I already said I’m not mad.” Lindsay tightens the bandages around his arm and gives it a small pat to assure it’s good for now. Michael flexes his arm mildly, testing to see how bad it still hurts; not very. Ryan comes slinking back with a bowl in his hands, approaching Michael carefully to hand it to him.

“Wolf,” he says. Michael looks down at the question soup but reluctantly takes it. Great. Wolf soup. His favorite. The front door opens and everyone turns to look curiously, none of them obviously expecting Ryan to actually live with someone else.

“Hey Ryan, we got your favorite-” Jack stops mid sentence when she sees the lot of them in her living room, a white box between her hands. Her husband peers around her curiously, neither of them knowing what to make of this. Ryan rubs his head.

“Hi Ms. Jack,” Lindsay says sheepishly.

“Ms. Tuggey,” Jack replies. “Ms. Tuggey’s friends.”

“What’s going on here?” Geoff asks slowly.

“Why are you all in my house?” Jack asks. “And injured?”

“We tried to call you like nine times,” Ray insists. “What’s with the cell signal around here?” Jack and Geoff give each other a knowing look but don’t say anything about it.

“Ryan,” Geoff says instead. “Just- tell us what’s going on here. We only left you alone for a few hours.”

“Long story,” Ryan murmurs. “Confusing story.”

“We got all night, buddy.” 


End file.
